Corrections and Conditional Release Act (S.C. 1992, c. 20)

Marginal note:Digital interface — required disclosure

• 25.5 (1) If the Service is authorized to disclose information about offenders under this Act or any other Act of Parliament and the Service intends to make the disclosure by providing access to a digital interface it administers, it must enter into an arrangement with the recipient of the information.

• Marginal note:Arrangement

  (2) An arrangement referred to in subsection (1) must include provisions requiring

  • (a) security measures for ensuring that only authorized users are able to access the digital interface for the intended purpose;

  • (b) measures for identifying a privacy breach and notifying the parties to the arrangement of that breach; and

  • (c) any other prescribed measure.

• Marginal note:Definition of digital interface

  (3) In this section, digital interface means a website, application or other electronic medium through which data or digital content is collected, viewed, consumed, delivered or interacted with.

Marginal note:Disclosure of information to victims

• 26 (1) At the request of a victim of an offence committed by an offender, the Commissioner

  • (a) shall disclose to the victim the following information about the offender:

    • (i) the offender’s name,

    • (ii) the offence of which the offender was convicted and the court that convicted the offender,

    • (iii) the date of commencement and length of the sentence that the offender is serving, and

    • (iv) eligibility dates and review dates applicable to the offender under this Act in respect of temporary absences or parole;

  • (b) may disclose to the victim any of the following information about the offender, where in the Commissioner’s opinion the interest of the victim in such disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of the offender’s privacy that could result from the disclosure:

    • (i) the offender’s age,

    • (ii) the name and location of the penitentiary in which the sentence is being served,

    • (ii.1) if the offender is transferred, a summary of the reasons for the transfer and the name and location of the penitentiary in which the sentence is being served,

    • (ii.2) if the offender is to be transferred to a minimum security institution as designated by Commissioner’s Directive and it is possible to notify the victim before the transfer, a summary of the reasons for the transfer and the name and location of the institution in which the sentence is to be served,

    • (ii.3) the programs that were designed to address the needs of the offender and contribute to their successful reintegration into the community in which the offender is participating or has participated,

    • (ii.4) the serious disciplinary offences that the offender has committed,

    • (iii) information pertaining to the offender’s correctional plan, including information regarding the offender’s progress towards meeting the objectives of the plan,

    • (iv) the date of any hearing for the purposes of a review under section 130,

    • (v) that the offender has been removed from Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act before the expiration of the sentence, and

    • (vi) [Repealed, 2015, c. 13, s. 46]

    • (vii) whether the offender is in custody and, if not, the reason why the offender is not in custody;

  • (c) shall disclose to the victim any of the following information about the offender, if, in the Commissioner’s opinion, the disclosure would not have a negative impact on the safety of the public:

    • (i) the date, if any, on which the offender is to be released on temporary absence, work release, parole or statutory release,

    • (ii) the conditions attached to the offender’s temporary absence, work release, parole or statutory release,

    • (iii) the destination of the offender on any temporary absence, work release, parole or statutory release, whether the offender will be in the vicinity of the victim while travelling to that destination and the reasons for any temporary absence; and

  • (d) shall provide the victim with access to a photograph of the offender taken on the occurrence of the earliest of any of the following — and any subsequent photograph of the offender taken by the Service — if, in the Commissioner’s opinion, to do so would not have a negative impact on the safety of the public:

    • (i) the release of the offender on unescorted temporary absence,

    • (ii) the offender’s work release,

    • (iii) the offender’s release on parole, and

    • (iv) the offender’s release by virtue of statutory release or the expiration of the sentence.

• Marginal note:Timing of disclosure

  (1.1) The Commissioner shall disclose the information referred to in paragraph (1)(c) before the day on which the offender is released and, unless it is not practicable to do so, the Commissioner shall disclose it at least 14 days before that day.

• Marginal note:Continuing duty to disclose

  (1.2) The Commissioner shall disclose to the victim any changes to the information referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c).

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a person has been transferred from a penitentiary to a provincial correctional facility, the Commissioner may, at the request of a victim of an offence committed by that person, disclose to the victim the name of the province in which the provincial correctional facility is located, if in the Commissioner’s opinion the interest of the victim in such disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of the person’s privacy that could result from the disclosure.

• Marginal note:Disclosure of information to other persons

  (3) Subsection (1) also applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to a person who satisfies the Commissioner

  • (a) that the person suffered physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic loss, as the result of an act of an offender, whether or not the offender was prosecuted or convicted for that act; and

  • (b) that a complaint was made to the police or the Crown attorney, or an information was laid under the Criminal Code, in respect of that act.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (4) Subsection (2) also applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to a person who satisfies the Commissioner

  • (a) that the person suffered physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic loss, as the result of an act of a person referred to in subsection (2), whether or not the person referred to in subsection (2) was prosecuted or convicted for that act; and

  • (b) that a complaint was made to the police or the Crown attorney, or an information was laid under the Criminal Code, in respect of that act.

• Marginal note:Representative

  (5) A victim may designate a representative to whom the information referred to in subsections (1) and (2) is to be disclosed on the victim’s behalf, or to whom access to a photograph referred to in paragraph (1)(d) is to be provided. In that case, the victim shall provide the Commissioner with the representative’s contact information.

• Marginal note:Withdrawal of request

  (6) A victim who has made a request referred to in subsection (1) or (2) may inform the Commissioner in writing that they no longer want the information to be disclosed to them or access to the photograph. In that case, the Commissioner shall not contact them, or their representative, if any, unless the victim subsequently makes the request again.

• Marginal note:Deemed withdrawal of request

  (7) The Commissioner may consider a victim to have withdrawn a request referred to in subsection (1) or (2) if the Commissioner has made reasonable efforts to contact the victim and has failed to do so.

• Marginal note:Other persons

  (8) Subsections (5) to (7) also apply, with any necessary modifications, to a person who has satisfied the Commissioner of the matters referred to in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b) or (4)(a) and (b).

Marginal note:Victim-offender mediation services

• 26.1 (1) The Service shall provide every victim, and every person referred to in subsection 26(3), who has registered themselves with the Service for the purposes of this section with information about its restorative justice programs and its victim-offender mediation services, and, on the victim’s or other person’s request, may take measures to provide those services.

• Marginal note:Consent required

  (2) The Service’s victim-offender mediation services are to be provided in accordance with the Commissioner’s Directives and they may be provided only with the informed consent of the participants that is voluntarily given.

Marginal note:Information to be given to offenders

• 27 (1) Where an offender is entitled by this Part or the regulations to make representations in relation to a decision to be taken by the Service about the offender, the person or body that is to take the decision shall, subject to subsection (3), give the offender, a reasonable period before the decision is to be taken, all the information to be considered in the taking of the decision or a summary of that information.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where an offender is entitled by this Part or the regulations to be given reasons for a decision taken by the Service about the offender, the person or body that takes the decision shall, subject to subsection (3), give the offender, forthwith after the decision is taken, all the information that was considered in the taking of the decision or a summary of that information.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) Except in relation to decisions on disciplinary offences, where the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that disclosure of information under subsection (1) or (2) would jeopardize

  • (a) the safety of any person,

  • (b) the security of a penitentiary, or

  • (c) the conduct of any lawful investigation,

  the Commissioner may authorize the withholding from the offender of as much information as is strictly necessary in order to protect the interest identified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).

• Marginal note:Right to interpreter

  (4) An offender who does not have an adequate understanding of at least one of Canada’s official languages is entitled to the assistance of an interpreter

  • (a) at any hearing provided for by this Part or the regulations; and

  • (b) for the purposes of understanding materials provided to the offender pursuant to this section.

Placement and Transfer of Inmates

Marginal note:Criteria for selection of penitentiary

28 If a person is or is to be confined in a penitentiary, the Service shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the penitentiary in which they are confined is one that provides them with the least restrictive environment for that person, taking into account

• (a) the degree and kind of custody and control necessary for

  • (i) the safety of the public,

  • (ii) the safety of that person and other persons in the penitentiary, and

  • (iii) the security of the penitentiary;

• (b) accessibility to

  • (i) the person’s home community and family,

  • (ii) a compatible cultural environment, and

  • (iii) a compatible linguistic environment; and

• (c) the availability of appropriate programs and services and the person’s willingness to participate in those programs.

Marginal note:Transfers

29 The Commissioner may authorize the transfer of a person who is sentenced, transferred or committed to a penitentiary

• (a) to a hospital, including any mental health facility, or to a provincial correctional facility, in accordance with an agreement entered into under paragraph 16(1)(a) and any applicable regulations;

• (b) within a penitentiary, from an area that has been assigned a security classification under section 29.1 to another area that has been assigned a security classification under that section, in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 96(d), subject to section 28; or

• (c) to another penitentiary, in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 96(d), subject to section 28.

Marginal note:Transfers to structured intervention unit

• 29.01 (1) A staff member who holds a position lower in rank than that of institutional head and who is designated by the Commissioner may, in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 96(g), and subject to section 28, authorize the transfer of a person who is sentenced, transferred or committed to a penitentiary into a structured intervention unit in the penitentiary or in another penitentiary.

• Marginal note:Decision — institutional head

  (2) The institutional head shall determine, in accordance with regulations made under paragraph 96(g), whether an inmate should remain in a structured intervention unit within the period of five working days that begins on the first working day on which the inmate is confined in the unit.

Security Classification

Marginal note:Commissioner to classify penitentiaries or areas

29.1 The Commissioner may assign the security classification of “minimum security”, “medium security”, “maximum security” or “multi-level security”, or any other prescribed security classification, to each penitentiary or to any area in a penitentiary.

Marginal note:Service to classify each inmate

• 30 (1) The Service shall assign a security classification of maximum, medium or minimum to each inmate in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 96(z.6).

• Marginal note:Service to give reasons

  (2) The Service shall give each inmate reasons, in writing, for assigning a particular security classification or for changing that classification.

• Marginal note:Subclassification

  (3) Within the maximum and medium security classifications, the Commissioner may assign an inmate to a subclassification in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 96(z.6).

• Marginal note:Commissioner to give reasons

  (4) The Commissioner or the staff member designated by the Commissioner shall give each inmate reasons, in writing, for assigning them to a subclassification or for changing that subclassification.